Finding the Story in Your Product Launch

So you’ve got a brand new product that’s about to launch.

You’ve done your market research, narrowed down the specs and features based on suggestions from your focus group, created a standout product, and pieced together a social media plan to help your product gain traction once it’s launched.

If you’ve managed to tick off each of these tasks on your to-do list, you’re probably feeling pretty confident right now. You’re in the homestretch and your finish line is only getting closer.

But before you can move on, there’s just one more important job to take care of: Your product’s story.

What, you didn’t think you needed to create a story for your product launch?

Yikes!

That could prove to be a costly error. But since you’re reading this, you won’t make that common mistake. In today’s article, I’ll show you how to incorporate an irresistible story into your launch so your product goes from zero to sixty, figuratively speaking, in no time.

When Marketing is Not Your Forte

You may not be a storyteller and my guess is that you’re probably not much of a marketer either.

You’re an entrepreneur. You like to create new things that solve problems for others. That’s what you do. That’s what you’re good at.

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But you probably understand the importance of marketing, especially when it comes to introducing your new product to the world.

It’s one of those tasks you know you have to get done so you try to knock it out fast, right?

Now, the old way of marketing used to preach highlighting and calling out the specific features that separate your product from the pack—if a pack of other competitors even exists.

So you’d take a side-by-side comparison of your closest competitor(s) and determine what makes your product worth buying. Then you’d spend time driving these features home to your potential customers.

That’s the route many businesses take.

Unfortunately, it’s the one consumers tune out the most these days. Please don’t take this route.

Features are Great, But They’re Not as Memorable as Stories

See, features are fantastic. They make your customer’s life easier or more pleasant in some way. And they do in fact give you a leg up on your competition.

But, surprisingly, they’re not very memorable for your customers.

Sure, a customer may say that the wider screen with the latest Retina technology is a determining factor in their decision to buy, but it’s not what motivated them to purchase.

This is because features don’t evoke feelings. They’re just the tangible components of a product.

What really resonates with consumers is the story behind the product. It’s this story (or stories) that evoke feel-good responses.

Let’s try a simple example using children’s toys.

Kids are notorious for playing dress up. Whether they’re princesses or pirates for the day, having the opportunity to transform is usually one that’s met with excitement.

Now, when a child picks up a sword or a princess crown, they don’t focus on the craftsmanship of the plastic or how many gems their crown is adorned with. Instead, they envision all of the possibilities and adventures they could go on given this new toy (or product).

Well, adults haven’t strayed too far from this mindset. We just don’t get the chance to show our excitement for new products in the same way that children do when they play dress up.

Instead, we get excited by the thoughts of how products are going to help us, and when they do, how our lives will become that much better because of them.

If you want people to connect with your product, you need to get them to connect with your story. And to do this, you need to create a compelling story.

Don’t worry, you don’t need to be a writer or storyteller by trade to get your product’s story right.

How to Incorporate Stories into Your Product Launch

Step One: Focus on the End User

First, and most importantly, your story needs to keep the attention of the end user.

Yes, you’ll be sharing your story, but you should be thinking about your customer throughout this process. You don’t want to bore them with how great you are and how you’ve overcome every obstacle you were ever faced with.

Instead, you want to show your customers the real side of your product. The struggles, the triumphs, and the journey in between.

They want to see the connection to how you faced this exact hurdle and how you used your product to come out on top—your “aha moment” that led you to this point.

Your customers will see that you were once in their shoes so you understand exactly what they’re going through right now. This makes you become relatable in their eyes and shows them that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

Let them know: Hey, you’re facing the same problem I was, and here’s how I got through it. With my help, you can too.

Step Two: Create Your Story

Next, you have to actually sit down and craft a compelling story that’s unique to your product.

Like any story, you’ll want to write a beginning that builds upon a problem, a middle that peaks with frustration, and an ending that closes with your version of ‘happily ever after’ (aka your product or solution).

Remember, answer these questions using your story, but keep making the connection with your customer’s story so they can relate, too.

Don’t get frustrated if your story takes several rewrites to get right. You want your story to be as relatable as possible. It’s normal to struggle with this, even for a seasoned writer.

As you rewrite your story, try to simplify as much as you can and really drive home only the most important messages.

Step Three: Determine Where You’ll Share Your Story

Once your story is complete (hello version #13!), you’ll have to identify key places to share it so your potential customers actually read it.

Some of my favorite places include:

On your landing page

In your emails

Via social media

On your podcast

Now, you won’t share the exact same story word for word on each of these outlets, but you’ll share a very similar version on each platform in order to create a cohesive strategy. After all, coming up with three different stories won’t make much sense.

Instead, adjust your story for each platform in order to create appropriate versions of it. This means adding videos, images, and plain ol’ fashioned writing to punch up its appeal.

For example, you should include big, bold images with short snippets of your story to match on your landing page. You can even use a parallax feature which shares bits of your story as the user scrolls down the page. Just avoid having big chunks of text.

You’ll have room to expand on your story (but not make it too long!) using your emails. Add small paragraphs of text to get your story across and include a video if applicable.

For social media, you’ll create a similar, short soundbite of information like you did with your landing page to share throughout your posts. You can include CTA text with each post guiding your customers to the longer version of your story on your landing page.

Your podcast is also another great place to share your story. This is the most direct way to get your message across. It resonates well with people since they can hear you as if you’re speaking directly to them.

So when you combine all four methods, you’ll be sharing your story in four different places, which is a surefire way to gain traction for your product launch.

In the end, as long as you focus your attention on creating a story with your customer in mind and spend time creating a compelling one that you’ll share on multiple platforms, you’ll have no problem getting your product off to a successful start.

[content_upgrade cu_id=”7439″]Bonus: Ready to get started? Check out this free resource on which must-have content pieces you need to tackle before launching.[content_upgrade_button]Click Here[/content_upgrade_button][/content_upgrade]

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Susan McLennan

Susan McLennan helps brands become better storytellers both through the media and through direct and digital communications. She is an award-winning communicator with a background in television production who has secured media coverage through some of the top media outlets in the world and created content that has won hearts and changed minds locally, nationally and internationally.